CHULA VISTA – Larry Lambert is no stranger to success. In his nearly 30 years as an educator he has received a gallery of well-deserved awards, including “Higher Education Teacher of the Year” and even a “Champion of Journalism” merit from the Southwestern College Sun Newspaper.

Lambert has a new honor to add to his wall—inaugural member of the Blackboard MVP program. This inaugural class of 12 was selected by the online learning company because members stood out as experts, shared their expertise with others, demonstrated leadership and actively shared feedback with Blackboard.

At Southwestern, Lambert is a founder of the distance education department and has worked tirelessly to bring education into the new age.

Lambert said the award was thanks to his co-workers and those who supported online education at Southwestern.

“I am honored and humbled to be selected for this award,” Lambert said. “After so many years in Higher Education and Distance Learning in particular, this is quite a surprise. Without the saintly patience of our Southwestern College faculty and of our classified professionals who have supported online learning for the last 14 years this wouldn’t have happened. It is always a team that earns these kudos.”

MVPs will have exclusive access to professional development trainings and will be invited to private product briefings and roadmap sessions with Blackboard executives. MVPs will continue to share their expertise by moderating the Ask the Doctors Client Q&A forum and through their own personal blogs, Blackboard blogs, social media, Tweetups, virtual office hours and more.

Blackboard CEO Jay Bhatt said MVP recipients went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to making online education available for everyone.

“We are proud to recognize Blackboard MVPs for reaching beyond the borders of their institutions and organizations to share their knowledge of, and best practices with, our products to the larger Blackboard community,” said Bhatt. “This program is incredibly powerful as it provides a platform not only for users to collaborate and learn from each other, but also for our company leaders to hear directly from the people who use our solutions in the field, every day. Blackboard MVPs are truly helping improve the learning experience and address important challenges in education.”

Superintendent President Dr. Melinda Nish said online education is a priority at Southwestern College and the district and Academic Senate strongly support the efforts to train faculty and upgrade technology to support distance education.

“We are incredibly proud of the recognition Larry is receiving from Blackboard,” Nish said. “He has played an integral part in bringing the way we teach Southwestern College students into the 21st century. He truly deserves the recognition.”